No Challenges Remaining No Challenges Remaining Tennis Podcast

Ben and Lindsay Gibbs of Power Plays are celebrating together in Tennessee and also discussing what they see in tennis, when it comes to how the women's game may be missing out on the cultural wave that other women's sports are riding in 2024.
What separates the trajectory of women's tennis from the momentum brought by Caitlin Clark to basketball and similar surges in professional women's soccer and hockey? What should the WTA's priorities be? How much are female players responsible for the success of their sport as a product?
We also touch on the Alexander Zverev criminal case, after the first hearing happened earlier today in Berlin

Ben checks in with Tumaini at Roland Garros to discuss the match of the tournament so far, in which Naomi Osaka was just one point away from stunning the huge favorite Iga Swiatek before the three-time champ rallied for a late escape.
How does this surprisingly strong performance set up Osaka for the remainder of her season? And is it a cause for concern for Swiatek's favorite status in Paris?
Also, we discuss Elena Rybakina's souring in her first round press conference, and revisit Tumaini's thoughts on Rafael Nadal's future.

Ben and Ricky Dimon debrief on what very much looked like Rafael Nadal's last match at the French Open, in which the 14-time champion played decently but was clearly overmatched by fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev.
We discuss the match, and hear from Rafa himself on what his future might hold. If not answers, there was some clarity in his remarks that helps light a clearer path for his future.
We also discuss what was most impressive in Nadal's era of dominance, the newfound parity seemingly hitting men's tennis, and a couple other early results from Sinner to Sakkari. 

Ben and Tumaini reconvene for a quick-paced look through the French Open draws, looking at the top lines stories from the wide-open men's draw and the Swiatek-steered women's side.
We start with the headline first round match between Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev, a daunting test for the 14-time champion against an opponent who brings on-court for and in-court legal issues to make this a discomfiting occasion. 
We also discuss Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Danielle Collins, and more! 
Enjoy the tennis, amis!

Ben and Tumaini catch up on the Dinara Double, in which Iga Swiatek "won Rome and Madrid" while on the men's side a whole bunch of draws fell apart and the top of the men's ladder looked shakier than it has in years.
We talk about Swiatek launching herself into a new orbit, the upper hand she has on Sabalenka, and wax poetic about the current gloriousness of Danielle Collins.
We also discuss the uncertainties around many men's stars, including Djokovic, Sinner, Nadal, and Alcaraz.
We then spend a lot of this mega episode discussing players who have announced their retirements and the legacies they leave. Garbine Muguruza, Dominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzman, and Camila Giorgi led four very different lives on this tour, and all left marks in their own ways.
We also cover wild cards, how media should discuss Zverev as his criminal trial gets underway in Berlin, Ben's detour into the very different ecosystem of Eurovision coverage, and more!

To dive further into "Challengers," the much-buzzed-about tennis movie coming out this Friday, Ben chats with the movie's screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes about his inspiration to tell a story about the unique emotional landscape of tennis.
We discuss the infamous match that planted the initial seed of desperation, the details tennis heads are appreciating (including the Applebee's near the Cincinnati tournament), introducing the sometimes convoluted structure of tennis to a general audience, the eroticism of tennis, and possible similarities with his wife Celine Song's acclaimed 2023 film "Past Lives."
Thanks for listening!